


a very special goldfish

by Topoftheslide



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3584514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topoftheslide/pseuds/Topoftheslide
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I mean, really, a man like you with a man like me? Gimme a break. A loser like me ends up with my childhood superhero?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	a very special goldfish

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Subjunctive_Historian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Subjunctive_Historian/gifts).



"Captain Rogers," said Jarvis's voice, "May I suggest you see to Sir with some heist. You shall find him on the roof."

Steve sprinted outside. Jarvis would never have woken him for no reason. And Tony has been awake for three... maybe four days? Steve wasn't sure. Too long, anyway. Enough to scare Steve. And Steve wasn't easily scared.

Tony was sitting too close to the ledge, dressed in a classic black tuxedo that made him look like... well, like _ **Tony Stark**_. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. A Stark with a capital S. Steve much preferred just Tony. With grease in his hair, the arc reactor glow showing under his worn-out, old “Black Sabbath” tee-shirt, bickering with Bruce, Pepper, Jarvis, Dummy and him, and then stopping to smile at all of them, so no one could really be mad.

But tonight was the big event, Steve remembered. The launch of some big Stark Industry Initiative, and Tony was dragged out of his lab earlier by Pepper, (almost) kicking and screaming, to get cleaned up and dressed.

And now there was Tony, his bowtie untied, sitting WAY TOO CLOSE to the ledge.

A tumbler in his hand and from the look in his eyes he has been drinking for some time now. His hands are not shaking. Hardly ever do. But Steve knows the signs. And this isn't happy-drunk, either. Everybody at Stark Tower knows the difference by now. Happy-drunk-Tony makes him hide a smile. Steve doesn't feel like smiling at all, now.

"Steve!" Tony shouts, way too loud. "I was just thinking of you!"

"Hi Tony," Steve says, in his calmest voice. "How about you come away from the ledge? It makes me really uncomfortable."

"Naaaaa," says Tony, looking down for a second. "Pointless. Not real anyway."

Steve must look as baffled as he feels, because Tony explains: "I finally got it. This isn't real. No way all this is real. Doesn't make sense. I mean, really, a man like you with a man like me? Gimme a break. A loser like me ends up with my childhood superhero? Right. You know I first started jerking off to your pics? My Father caught me one time. Beat me so hard I was sure he was gonna kill me that time. Even Jarvis couldn't get him off me. Mom didn't even try. Gave me a whole talk about how you were all perfect and pure and clean and shit, and I was a worthless little turd who was unworthy of even fantasizing about you."

Tony stopped to take a sip of his drink, and was surprised to find the glass empty.

"Anyway, he was right. _Dad_ was ALWAYS right. Best thing about him. So this --" Tony gestured at Steve, the tower, everything, "This couldn't be real. But I figured it out. 'Cause I'm smart. **I** \--" he gestured at himself, rocking from the motion, almost making Steve jump to grab him, "figured it out. I am actually a goldfish. No, we are all goldfish, but I'm a very special goldfish. I got bored of goldfishing, so I imagined myself you."

Tony's eyes filled with tears. "I really wish you were real, though. I hate being a goldfish all on my own."

 

__________________________________

 

When Steve woke in the morning the bed was empty. He was already in motion, his heart beating too fast, when he smelled the coffee and heard the coffee machine in the kitchen.

"Morning, Captain Sexy Pants," Tony smiled at him from across the breakfast counter. "I must have been really hammered last night. I don't even remember getting out of the party and into bed."

He handed Steve a mug of freshly brewed coffee, "and I had the strangest dream, about goldfish."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you soooooooooo much to the amazing and kind Subjunctive_Historian for her beta. You rock!


End file.
